Basic Web Design UVICELL Week 5 Choosing a Domain Name, Hosting and Marketing Your Web Site Week 5 Choosing a Domain Name, Hosting and Marketing Your Web Site

Domain Names - Overview  A domain name is a text name corresponding to the numeric IP address of a computer on the Internet  A domain name must be unique  Internet users access your website using your domain name     A domain name is a text name corresponding to the numeric IP address of a computer on the Internet  A domain name must be unique  Internet users access your website using your domain name   

Selecting a Domain Name  Select a domain name that matches your company name as closely as possible or a description of the product or service you sell  Example - your company is “Smith, Inc.” and you sell computers  If is taken try:  is taken try:   Names can be up to 67 characters, so be creative!  Select a domain name that matches your company name as closely as possible or a description of the product or service you sell  Example - your company is “Smith, Inc.” and you sell computers  If is taken try:  is taken try:   Names can be up to 67 characters, so be creative!

Checking the Availability of a Domain Name  Searching for a domain name is called a “whois” search, as in “who is the owner of this domain”  To search for a domain name go to  InterNIC supervises the registration of domain names and regulates the registrars (these are the companies who actually register your domain name)     Searching for a domain name is called a “whois” search, as in “who is the owner of this domain”  To search for a domain name go to  InterNIC supervises the registration of domain names and regulates the registrars (these are the companies who actually register your domain name)   

Registering and Hosting Your Domain  Web hosting is the placement of your HTML documents on an internet web server that allows people to view them  Most registrars now offer hosting services  Web hosting is the placement of your HTML documents on an internet web server that allows people to view them  Most registrars now offer hosting services

Points to Consider When Selecting a Web Host  Amount of file storage (in MB’s or GB’s)  Amount of file transfers per month (in MB’s or GB’s)  How many addresses are included?  Are they compatible with your web development tool? (i.e. Dreamweaver or FrontPage)  Will you need a database? If so which one?  Will you need a shopping cart? or an online product catalog?  What usage statistics are available?  Cost per month + any overage fees  Amount of file storage (in MB’s or GB’s)  Amount of file transfers per month (in MB’s or GB’s)  How many addresses are included?  Are they compatible with your web development tool? (i.e. Dreamweaver or FrontPage)  Will you need a database? If so which one?  Will you need a shopping cart? or an online product catalog?  What usage statistics are available?  Cost per month + any overage fees

Marketing Your Site - Overview  Preparing your web pages for search engines and Search Engine Optimization  Submitting your site to major search engines  Links to and from your site  Use your web address in all advertising  Preparing your web pages for search engines and Search Engine Optimization  Submitting your site to major search engines  Links to and from your site  Use your web address in all advertising

Marketing Your Site - Preparing Your Site for Indexing  Be sure your page “Title” accurately reflects the content on the page, along with your company (or division), product or service name  Use a "description" meta-tag and write your description accurately and carefully  Use a "keyword" meta-tag to list key words for the web page  Use a distinct list of keywords that relate to that specific page on your site instead of using one broad set of keywords for every page  Be sure your page “Title” accurately reflects the content on the page, along with your company (or division), product or service name  Use a "description" meta-tag and write your description accurately and carefully  Use a "keyword" meta-tag to list key words for the web page  Use a distinct list of keywords that relate to that specific page on your site instead of using one broad set of keywords for every page

Marketing Your Site - Inserting Meta-Tags  Open your web page in Dreamweaver  On the INSERTS palette click on the HTML tab  Click on the HEAD tab and then the KEY symbol for KEYWORDS and type in your keywords for that page and a few general keywords for your site  Repeat for the DESCRIPTION meta-tag  Open your web page in Dreamweaver  On the INSERTS palette click on the HTML tab  Click on the HEAD tab and then the KEY symbol for KEYWORDS and type in your keywords for that page and a few general keywords for your site  Repeat for the DESCRIPTION meta-tag

Meta Tags - Example  Wave Creative Services - Audio Recording, Voice Over, IT Consulting, Web Site Design and Web Development in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands - Website Design   Wave Creative Services - Audio Recording, Voice Over, IT Consulting, Web Site Design and Web Development in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands - Website Design 

Submitting Your Site to Search Engines  The Big Three  Google - 80% of all searches on the web! Google  Yahoo Yahoo  MSN MSN  Each search engine uses a different approach to index your web page  Be sure to read about how each one works (available on the class web site, see “Week 5”)  All search sites use the Title tag, and the Keywords and Description meta-tags so be sure to add them before you submit your site  The Big Three  Google - 80% of all searches on the web! Google  Yahoo Yahoo  MSN MSN  Each search engine uses a different approach to index your web page  Be sure to read about how each one works (available on the class web site, see “Week 5”)  All search sites use the Title tag, and the Keywords and Description meta-tags so be sure to add them before you submit your site

Search Engine Optimization (S.E.O.) The practice of guiding the development and management of a website so that it will naturally attract visitors by winning top rankings on the major search engines for selected keyword terms.

SEO Basics  Selecting & incorporating target terms  Web / S.E.O. copywriting  Page titles & meta tags  Link building  Site submission  Monitoring & refinement  Selecting & incorporating target terms  Web / S.E.O. copywriting  Page titles & meta tags  Link building  Site submission  Monitoring & refinement

What Are Target Search Terms?  What are search terms?  Keywords  Keyword phrases  Benefits of selecting the right terms  Insure traffic to site is relevant  Obtain high ranking for terms  Increase direct traffic  What are search terms?  Keywords  Keyword phrases  Benefits of selecting the right terms  Insure traffic to site is relevant  Obtain high ranking for terms  Increase direct traffic

Selecting Search Terms  Organization name  Business type  Product / services  Location  Related products / services  Synonym variations  Organization name  Business type  Product / services  Location  Related products / services  Synonym variations  Misspellings  Singulars / Plurals  Hyphenated words  See what your competition is using  See what the top ranking companies are using

Writing for the Web  Be to the point - respect your visitor’s time  Only 8 seconds to capture the visitor’s attention  Only 30 seconds to provide visitor’s with the information they are looking for  Be to the point - respect your visitor’s time  Only 8 seconds to capture the visitor’s attention  Only 30 seconds to provide visitor’s with the information they are looking for

Writing for the Web (continuted)  Using headings / subheadings to guide the readers eye (H1 and H2 tags are good for this purpose)  Incorporate bulleted lists when appropriate  Avoid using “fluff” copy  Try to keep pages under 300 words  Use keywords throughout the copy  Using headings / subheadings to guide the readers eye (H1 and H2 tags are good for this purpose)  Incorporate bulleted lists when appropriate  Avoid using “fluff” copy  Try to keep pages under 300 words  Use keywords throughout the copy

Marketing Your Site With Links  Partnering - Getting links to your site from:  Vendors  Customers  Partners  Professional associations  Government agencies  Other non-competitive companies  Create a links page on your site and reciprocate links from other sites  Partnering - Getting links to your site from:  Vendors  Customers  Partners  Professional associations  Government agencies  Other non-competitive companies  Create a links page on your site and reciprocate links from other sites

Self Advertising Your Site  Print your web site address on everything!  Company letterhead  Business cards  Print advertising  Phone book ad  Print your web site address on everything!  Company letterhead  Business cards  Print advertising  Phone book ad

Professional Web Advertising  Google - they are the leader for a reason  AdSense  AdWords  Web hosting providers usually assist (for a fee) with marketing and promotion of your site  Google - they are the leader for a reason  AdSense  AdWords  Web hosting providers usually assist (for a fee) with marketing and promotion of your site